MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Wednesday 9/22/21

When being contrarian in daily fantasy sports, there's a fine line between taking a calculated risk and being reckless. But differentiating your lineups from everyone else's is the name of the game if you plan on taking down one of those highly lucrative DFS tournaments. Whether it's because of bookmaker totals, other options at a given position, or some gem you've found who everyone is overlooking, we can always find potential under-rostered plays if we look hard enough.

Here are three such players to consider branching out for on FanDuel's main slate.

Walker Buehler, P, Los Angeles Dodgers ($9,400)

A pitcher at Coors Field? Gasp!

Yes. That pitcher would be Walker Buehler, who is no doubt one of the pitchers in the league but happens to be facing the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field tonight. Of course, a pitcher in this hitting environment has the potential for massive downside, but there's also the potential for Buehler to be massively overlooked -- the ultimate high-risk, high-reward scenario.

I'm not one for cherry-picking small sample sizes, but it's all we have to go on for Buehler, who's pitched a total of 44.2 innings at Coors Field in his career. In that time, he's allowed only 5 home runs, has 38 strikeouts, and a 1.32 WHIP. I know those numbers aren't amazing, but they also aren't horrible.

We also factor in the Rockies, who come in with a 77 wRC+ (30th in the league), .163 ISO (17th), 33.5% hard-contact rate (20th), and 34.8% fly-ball rate (23rd) versus right-handed pitchers. This is actually an awesome matchup for Buehler, but no one will want to roster him because of Coors Field.

LaMonte Wade Jr., OF, San Francisco Giants ($2,900)

If the San Francisco Giants go overlooked tonight, that would be a mistake.

The Giants have an amazing matchup tonight and could potentially be passed, which presents an awesome opportunity to roster them in tournaments. They are going up against Vincent Velasquez, who has a 5.08 xFIP while allowing 1.72 HR/9, a 9.3% walk rate, a 40.2% fly-ball rate, and a .252 ISO versus left-handed hitters this season. He isn't good, full stop.

This means we want a hitter like LaMonte Wade Jr, who has a 146 wRC+, .276 ISO, 46.0% fly-ball rate, 40.2% hard-contact rate, and 19.4% HR/FB rate versus right-handed pitchers this season. You should love this match for Wade and the Giants tonight.

Mitch Haniger, OF, Seattle Mariners ($3,700)

The Seattle Mariners have a low 3.74 implied run total tonight and shouldn't be popular.

Mitch Haniger makes a nice one-off play tonight because stacking the Mariners is not the way to attack this slate. He has plenty of upside with his 138 wRC+, .261 ISO, 40.3% fly-ball rate, and 40.3% hard-contact rate this season versus left-handed pitchers. He has home run potential, gets on base, and generates runs.

That is all possible for Haniger tonight versus Cole Irvin, who is struggling versus right-handed hitters this year to the tune of a 4.95 xFIP, 1.08 HR/9, a low 15.5% walk rate, and a 38.9% fly-ball rate. With the fly-ball rates on each side, Haniger could grab a solo shot tonight, making for a solid one-off.